Saturday, November 22, 2014

Thanksgiving at the Lake 2004

Wednesday November 17, 2004: Apache
Lake Resort boat ramp 6:36p.m.

Sunshine and Tyler dropped me here at
about 3p.m. I took a short walk (approx. ½ mile) and set up camp
right by the ramp. My plan is to scout the area for a couple of days
and then load the canoe and move camp to a more secluded spot. For
now, I'll enjoy a few of the amenities the resort has to offer, like
showers and toilets. I have to be back here to meet Sunshine and
family for Thanksgiving. I'll ferry them to my camp in the canoe.

I met some guys who’ve been here
fishing for the last couple of days and haven’t caught anything.
They tell me the bass don’t start hitting well here until December,
but I’m looking for food not trophies and not just flipping spinner
baits after bass, so I’m not too discouraged.

Preliminary scouting reveals that with
a little effort firewood shouldn’t be a problem. There are many
mesquite thickets and much deadfall. I dined this evening on the
abundant windfall Jojoba nuts. Note to self: collect a couple
pounds of these before the rodents beat me to it. I’ve also found
hackberries to be in season, dry and tough, but sweet.

It’s been a beautiful, mostly clear
day. The high was supposed to reach 80. I’m guessing 60-65 now with
a slight breeze.

Thursday November 18, 2004, 10:45 pm

Spectacular meteor showers to the
Northwest during the last two nights. I just saw a ringtail cat. I
canoed about 6 miles today (round trip). I visited Saguaro Point, Fox
Point, Haystack, Ash Creek, Horsetail Bay and 3 Bar Point. All to the
west of my camp near Crabtree wash. I fished the entire time using
rubber worms, minnows, diving plugs, spinners, salmon eggs, salty
grubs, et,al. I threw everything I had at 'em to no avail. I didn’t
even get a nibble.

When I returned, I hiked up to the
resort and called my friend Frank in Payson and told him where I’m
camped. He told me that my friend Pat, from Chevellon, will be
following him down and they will be meeting me Monday. I guess I'll
stay here by the marina until then so they can easily find me. I hope
Dee and Mikey are coming also.

There were four grapefruits at the
base of the tree behind my tent when I got here and I had one for
breakfast. Lunch was Jojoba nuts. In the evening a young couple I met
invited me to share their campfire and we had mesquite-roasted
bratwurst for dinner. They also had Beck’s Dark beer and a doobie!

Friday November 19, 2004, 6:21 a.m.

I awoke today just before dawn to the
hooting of an owl in a eucalyptus tree above me and chest pains on
the right side of my body. (The owl is traditionally a portent of
death or extreme change). Last time I had an owl in camp, Maya, my
faithful companion of 13 years was dying. I pay attention to the
owls, man. Upon rising I determined that my pain is of muscular
origin, from rowing against the wind and current all day yesterday.
The owl was simply a neighbor saying good-morning. I also saw a
ringtail cat at about 1a.m. while out for a moonlight hike and resin
toke. I’m going to give my aching ribs a break and stay out of the
canoe today.

7:45p.m.

Well, I couldn’t stay off the lake.
I rowed down to Needle Cove, again caught nothing. I’m starting to
wonder if there’s even fish in this lake. I’ve seen huge
bass skeletons on shore, but not only have I not had a nibble, I
haven’t seen or heard of anybody catching anything. I haven’t
even seen any minnows or crawdads. Frank can really fish. He’ll
catch ‘em if anyone does. Brunch: Jojoba nuts and coffee. Dinner:
the last of my grits.

Saturday November 20, 2004

11:34 am

I grabbed a piece of steak out of the
dumpster at the resort last night and fished with it. I got 2 bites
but didn’t catch anything. I’m going to row west and shoot me
something today. Breakfast: grapefruit and coffee.

Now to digress a bit, which I’ll
probably do a lot. I get overwhelmed sometimes with the awesomeness
of what I’m doing. I feel like I’m the richest man in America. I
mean wow! Just look at my front yard! Sure am hungry though, and the
jojoba are starting to upset my stomach. They are very high in
tannins.

7:30p.m.

I wore myself out rowing against the
wind again . I talked to Dave today. He owns Apache Lake Resort and
Marina. He says there hasn't been a fish caught for a while. Didn’t
shoot any varmints as I found a tub of worms, but I still haven’t
got anything. Horrible stink turtles are stripping my hook without
even ringing the bell. I caught one, but it smelled so doggone bad, I
couldn't fathom eating it. Dinner: 3 small pancakes and coffee. Ran
out of flour. I have one grapefruit left. Not looking good for Apache
Lake. The Forest Service fishing report said Apache had the best
fishing of the three lakes, but they were obviously wrong.

I wish I'd stayed on the Verde again
this Winter. I not only survive there, but thrive. No matter. It’s
best I start out with the hard part anyway. Quite cloudy out tonight.

11:00p.m.

Took a late night hike and surprised a
couple of fellas at the cove on the other side of the marina. When I
turned the corner on them, they turned off their flashlights and
hustled off in different directions. One was a guy I've seen pushing
a broom at the resort. If they were getting high, I wish they hadn't
been spooked. I'm almost out of resin and my pipes are pretty clean.

Sunday November 21, 2004, 11:30 a.m.

About 10p.m. last night I put my rain
tarp up, and that was just in time. It’s been raining on and off
all day. I just talked to Sunshine and she did an interview about me
with News Zap or Newzap or something like that. We think it’s an
online newspaper. She’s supposed to take a picture of me for them
on Thursday when she comes.

The receptionist at the resort just
told me they had a fishing tournament yesterday. I guess, out of 17
boats, only one caught a single fish. Game and Fish blames an algae
bloom, (see westernbass.com). I gave up today and had lunch at the
Apache Lake Resort. A double swiss burger with French fries and an
apple pie ala mode.

Latest report had the dead fish at
Apache the result of both the algae bloom and runoff from fires. I
asked Sunshine to check Game and Fish to see of the other lakes in
the chain (i.e. Roosevelt, Canyon, and Saguaro) have suffered similar
fates. If so, she’s going to check with the Cave Creek ranger
station and try to get me an extended pass for Bartlett Lake.

I just talked to a guy who works here
and he told me they opened the turbines at Roosevelt and that let a
bunch of fire retardant flow down and it killed all the lakes. Also,
he said there was a type of algae that got in from India somehow.
I’ve heard a lot of reports about these airplane contrails and seen
a lot of them here. On a clear day with no wind, I’ve seen them
settle down as a mist, creating a fog through the entire valley. My
local sources tell me they’ve seen smallmouth bass with open sores.

Another theory is that the crawdad
population was wiped out and being the major food source for the
bass, they starved. Fishing reports in the Arizona Republic and on
the internet say the fishing through here is good. I don’t know
where they get their information. The locals know better. It would
seem they are trying to hide something. I’ve noticed that people
cover things up for 3 reasons: Legal, political, or commercial. It’s
7:00 and the rain continues. I hope it’s done by tomorrow when my
friends arrive.

Monday November 22, 2004, 10:25a.m.

And then the wind changed direction.

Its coming from the west now and that
end of my tent is bent to the ground.

My rain fly ripped and one of my
poles snapped. I repaired it with a hose clamp. The radio says it’s
snowing in L.A. and Vegas. Feels like the temperature just dropped 10
degrees. The radio says its 49 degrees in phoenix with rain on and
off today and tonight. That means it's much colder here.

Frank showed up, but nobody else
wanted to come out in this cold rain. He started a fire using wet
ground score willow during a downpour and then told me he had dry
firewood but wanted to see if he could do it. We smoked some of his
grass and drank a few beers and climbed a spur of Crabtree Wash to
watch the fire. Then we went to the bar and had a few beers then I
had a Martini and very strong White Russian.. Bad move on the white
Russian after no food all day. I was up heaving out the tent most of
the night.

Tuesday November 23, 2004, 5:15 p.m.

I awoke at 8a.m. and hiked up to
Frank’s camp, only to find that he cleared out early. I hope he and
his dog are okay. It’s not like him just to disappear like that.

Apache Lake and Resort is owned by the
Schuster family and boasts 3 separate motel structures, a marina,
boat shop, boat rental dock, several boat ramps, camping, RV sites,
restrooms, showers, restaurant, grocery, bar, tetherball courts,
horseshoe pits, ping-pong tables, volleyball court, sheriff’s
station, and heliport. The lake itself boasts largemouth, smallmouth,
and yellow bass; as well as rainbow trout, crappie, sunfish,
bluegill, channel, flathead, and bullhead catfish, walleye and carp.
(See Sunday’s entry) The elevation here is 1,900 feet, and claims
17 miles of shoreline encompassing 2,568 surface acres of water.
Although the lake is situated within Tonto National Forest and
administered by the Forest Service, it is owned y the Air Force. The
maximum water depth is 253 feet. More information is available by
calling (602)467-2511 or (928)467-2511. The resort website is
www.apachelake.com.

5:45p.m.

No rain today, although there has been
a great deal of thunder. As I sit here in the lobby of the resort
(batteries are dead in my flashlight, so I am taking advantage of the
electricity). Several people have walked past complaining of the
cold. A Phoenix radio station is calling for temperatures in the high
30’s overnight in “outlying areas”. Lunch today was a
cheeseburger and fries. Dinner: coffee. I catfished with night
crawlers from 1:00 to 4:00, but gave it up when I didn’t even get a
nibble in three hours. Earlier I hiked out a ways and did some target
practice with my 22-revolver. Tomorrow, Sunshine, Tyler, and Gavin
will be here and they’re thinking of buying a flatbed bass boat
that’s for sale down by my camp. It’s probably the ugliest boat
I’ve ever seen, but it’s priced reasonably and comes with an
outboard and trolling motors.

11:27p.m.

Since my batteries are wiped out in my
radio, I went over to the tables by where I had seen the ring-tailed
cat hoping for another glimpse of it. If I couldn’t fish, at least
I might see some wildlife. That’s when I noticed the guys sneaking
around, following me. It’s disquieting having people lurking about
bushes, whispering in the dark. I don't know if they are security, or
those dudes I surprised the other night. They eventually left. One
guy, on foot with a dog, the other on a quad and I waited around
maybe for another hour, but I think the dog spoiled any chances I may
have had of seeing the ring-tail tonight. I wonder if those guys were
nosing around Frank’s camp and that’s why he left early. I wonder
if they think I’m casing the joint, always hanging around the lobby
taking notes on my clipboard around closing time. I also tend to use
the restroom up there, rather than the one near my camp. It’s
cleaner and warm.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004, 4:45p.m.

Some guy who I've seen around here in
a white pickup with a short wheel-base and no bed just backed up to
the rocks by my camp and stared me down in his rearview mirror. I
smiled and waved, and he pointed at me with a scowl. I guess I get
the message. He’s walking purposefully toward my tent. I’m in my
tent writing. I’m going to call Sunshine and see if she’s on her
way as soon as he leaves.

5:15p.m.

I was unable to reach Sunshine on her
phone. They must be on their way.

A little later

I hiked to the resort and back about a
dozen times, hoping to see Sunshine driving in. They finally showed
and I suggested we load my camp and move to Roosevelt Lake in hopes
the fish are alive there. They brought a full thanksgiving dinner
with all the fixin's for tomorrow. Yippee! I haven't had a
Thanksgiving dinner for years.

Walnut Canyon game enclosure is 1 mile
west of Bachelor Cove camping area (our camp). It’s part of
research being conducted on the 3 Bar Wildlife area by the Arizona
Game and Fish department in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service.
Within the enclosure the department is studying the population
dynamics, habitat requirements, and pathology of mule deer and
javelina.

Tyler used his 4 wheel
drive to “flex his man muscle” upon the dynamics, habitat
requirements and pathology of the many mud puddles.

Roosevelt lake (named for Teddy, not
Franklin), was once the largest man-made lake in the world. It covers
more than 17,000 acres. The lake is formed by the junction of the
Salt River and Tonto Creek. As I’ve mentioned our first camp here
is called Bachelor’s Cove, and is a fee site. $4.00 for tent
camping. Fortunately for me, many of the campgrounds require the fee
for parking, not camping. So, when the Dvorak’s leave, I won’t
have to pay.

Bachelor’s Cove reminds me of
Bartlett Flats, lots of RV’s and boats, and you can launch right
from your camp. Last night was pretty cold and dewy. I’d say it’s
in the mid to high 70’s now. I’m in shorts and a t-shirt now. We
drove to the Punkin Center for gas (13 miles north). Regular was
$2.04 and Tyler called that reasonable. I guess I’ve been in the
woods awhile because it doesn’t seem reasonable to me.

Local vegetation includes saguaro,
barrel, pincushion, and prickly pear cacti, as well as Palo Verde.
Some mesquite and salt cedar trees, Jojoba, desert broom, and
cockleburs. Firewood is scarce, but we scored somebody’s old stash
on a jeep trail. I’ve also seen grackles, ducks, doves, and egrets.
Geese are plentiful.

Breakfast: blueberry pancakes and
coffee with real maple syrup and butter. Lunch: chips and soda.
Dinner: Smoked turkey, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and
mashed potatoes. I ate more today than I have all week. I may not
need that extra belt hole after all. Wait! There’s pie! We drove up
to Tonto cliff dwellings after dinner, but it’s gated and closes at
5p.m. (ruins close at 4p.m.). so, we went further east about ½ mile
and did some more 4-wheeling. About 1 ½ miles up a wash we passed an
old windmill and then got high-centered on a rock. All we had was a
scissor jack, a tripod, and the kid’s compound bow I found when I
met the White wolf years ago. I gave it to Tyler for Gavin when he's
old enough.

The boulder was fortunately a
sedimentary conglomerate. Had it been gneiss we’d have been in
trouble, but despite its enormity it was light enough to dig and
crumble a bit and muscle out with our legs. We’re back at the fire
now. Tyler’s playing guitar and I’m thinking about that
pie…coffee’s ready. Fishing report is better here. Folks are
catching bass, smallmouth and cat. More importantly, the folks
nearest us are using soft rubber bait not live bait, so that means I
can catch’em.

We met some great folks who spend
Thanksgiving here every year. I played guitar and sang for beers and
had great fun. I ran out of songs I would normally think were
appropriate for families, but the kids were asleep and they insisted
I continue although I warned them all I had left were bluer or drug
related tunes. I was a hit. They all sang along with the choruses of
“The Ballad of Verde Hot Springs” and “Drinking after
Midnight”.

Before I forget, I promised Frank I'd
post this in case anybody is reading: “The Oxbow in Payson is the
funnest place in town.”

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About Me

I was arrested for possession of LSD in 1992 and threatened with a 42 year sentence. I split and spent the next fifteen years as a fugitive. The last five years I lived in the forests of Arizona. These are essays about some adventures I had during my journey to freedom .